The present invention relates to a flavor-generating device for enjoying inhalation of flavor or for enjoying simulated smoking, and more particularly, to a flavor-generating device for generating flavor which is to be inhaled by a user by heating a liquid. flavor source without relying on combustion.
Various types of flavor-generating devices in which a flavor material is evaporated by heating for enjoying inhalation of flavor have been proposed to date.
For example, Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) No. 3-232481 discloses a typical concept of a conventional simulated smoking article. In this flavor-generating device, a rod-like solid flavor material is used, and the flavor or inhalation target is generated by heating the solid flavor material with a heating element. In a flavor-generating device of this type, a large amount of solid flavor material is wasted where the flavor material is kept continuously heated. Disadvantageously, where the solid flavor generation material is heated when a user wishes to inhale the flavor generated from the flavor material, a large time lag is generated between the actual inhalation of the flavor by the user and the generation of the flavor.
A flavor-generating device capable of coping with the above-noted difficulty is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 3-277265. The disclosed device has a solid flavor material divided into a number of portions, wherein the divided portions of the solid flavor material are heated one by one every time a user takes one puff of the flavor so as to generate the flavor which is to be inhaled by the user. In this flavor-generating device, the solid flavor material and the heating element collectively constitute an integral flavor-generating means. It follows that, after consumption of the flavor material, it is necessary to replace or discard the heating element together with the flavor material. This may be expensive and give rise to an environment problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,931 discloses a simulated smoking article using a pressurized aerosol container. In this device, vanes are rocked in response to the inhaling action of a user so as to mechanically open the outlet port of the aerosol container and, thus, to release the aerosol. This prior art also discloses a modification in which a heating element for warming the aerosol cooled by the heat of evaporation is mounted at the outlet port of the aerosol container. In each of these devices, however, a pressurized aerosol is confined in the container by a valve which is opened or closed in response to the inhaling action of the user. It follows that a large amount of the aerosol may be leaked to the outside once the valve is opened. In other words, in each of these prior art articles, it is impossible to release continuously a predetermined suitable amount of the aerosol every time a user takes a single puff. Rather, all the pressurized aerosol tends to be released in two or three inhaling actions of the user.